Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos is a win for Taco Bell

Taco Bell’s latest joint creation with Doritos, the Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, is keeping the chain at its highest US consumer perception levels with Mexican food eaters since the fall of 2010.

For the past 14 weeks, Taco Bell has steadily beaten the average for the top national QSR chains with Mexican restaurant-favoring consumers.

Unlike the original Locos Tacos launch in March 2012, Doritos did not share the consumer perception boost this time around. During last year’s Live Mas campaign for Doritos Locos Tacos, Doritos made substantial gains in perception scores, which lasted nearly two months after the product launched. Doritos gains were even greater than Taco Bell’s. This time, Doritos perception was essentially flat after the introduction of the Cool Ranch spin-off on March 7th, with Taco Bell collecting the perception gains.

Taco Bell and Doritos were measured with YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which asks respondents: “If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” For this research, all respondents were screened for adults 18+ who have dined at a Mexican restaurant in the past month. The top national QSR brand average includes include Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Papa John’s, Arby’s, Burger King, KFC, Domino’s, Popeyes, Long John Silver, Chipotle and others.

Taco Bell has come far in Mexican diner perception during this campaign. Before Locos Tacos debuted last year, the chain’s Buzz score was 11. For the past month, Taco Bell’s Buzz score has hovered between 20 and 21.

When Locos Tacos launched last year in early March, Doritos reached a Buzz score of 29, its highest in a year. But this year, the Cool Ranch product produced different results for the salty snack: on March 4th, Doritos had a 21 Buzz score, which has since dropped two points to 19.